Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach, with his penchant for hardline anti-immigration policy and reputation for picking, and winning, fights against the invented bogeyman of voter fraud, is in an unexpectedly heated race for re-election against Democratic challenger and former state Sen. Jean Schodorf.

The battle unfolding in Michigan this week illustrates how a 15-state consortium of rightwing elections officials–who are willing to say anything to advance the voter fraud meme–plan to dismantle voting rights.

What we can see so far is that Republicans are ramming photo voter ID laws down states’ throats by drumming up fake scares about “voter fraud” caused by “illegal aliens” who are terrorizing the polls by voting and cancelling out the votes of legitimate voters. It’s all bunkum, but plenty of campign mileage miles are racking up off this racket by Republicans

An avowed leader of the anti-immigrant agenda is skipping his job–educating his state’s voters about new voting procedures–to work with groups around the country who want to make obtaining an ID an even thornier process for immigrants.